Save Handmade update: C’mon, Congress. Help us out.

As you probably know by now, there’s a bill in Congress to ensure that toys and clothing are free of toxic chemicals and heavy metals. Which is good. Unfortunately, while the Consumer Protection Safety Improvement Act is well-meaning, the way it’s been implemented has impacted not only the major corporations accused of making faulty products, but also caused tremendous hardship for small businesses, individual crafters, consignment sales, and our beloved Etsy–folks who have been doing things right all along.

Plenty of them have even gone out of business.

Horrible, right?

Here’s the update: The law is officially set to take effect in February 2011, and Congress begins discussing it this week. Which means your input could be invaluable.

Our perspective is that as parents, we want kids’ toys and clothes and furniture to be safe. But we don’t want already responsible crafters, small toy makers, folks who knit handmade baby booties, wonderful local woodworkers, and those small businesses we love to go away either.

3 Comments

My business, Tail Wags Helmet Covers, makes handmade adorable helmet covers designed to make it FUN for kids and adults to wear their safety helmets.

When the legislation was first introduced, I panicked because I thought it would be cost prohibitive. In fact, it was a very affordable process test. I highly recommend Trace Laboratories, http://www.tracelabs.com. Please feel free to contact me at info@tail-wags.com if you have any further questions.